Southampton schools attend Golden Mile launch

Published

4th June 2018

Written by

Energise Me

On the 23rd May, Southampton primary schools joined us for the Golden Mile launch. The event held at Bitterne Park School, aimed to increase the number of Southampton schools signed up to the initiative. The Golden Mile is a simple and inclusive way to get children active during the school day. Many teachers have commented on the benefits of the initiative, including improved fitness, concentration and behaviour.

Year 8 leaders from Bitterne Park School helped to facilitate the launch and got involved in the Golden Mile demonstration. Friendships were made as the primary school children and leaders ran around the track together.

Amaya Scott, member of Southampton Athletics Club and currently supported by the Hampshire Talented Athlete Scheme was the special guest. Amaya shared her experiences of being involved in sport and how athletics helped her throughout school.

“I didn’t feel that I fitted in anywhere when I was younger, I was a lot taller than my friends however, athletics allowed me to embrace being different and helped me to find my place in the world”.

Bassett Green Primary School were the first school in Southampton to sign up to the initiative. They came along to the launch to show other schools how to set it up. The school also took part in a Q & A for the teachers and pupils, as they have been doing it for over 12 months now. They have trophies for KS1 and KS2, for the class that gets the most miles per week.

Dom Ducellier, a PE Teacher from Bassett Green Primary School said:

“We had a really good success story last year where a year 6 pupil didn’t take part in any sports at all. He was on the radar for behaviour and he had ran the second most amount of miles in the school. He would go outside in lunch times and just run around and get loads of laps done. Talking to his class teachers he was much more focused on his work.”

Cllr David Shields, Cabinet Member for Health and Community Safety at Southampton City Council said:

“Bassett Green is doing some great work to inspire kids and parents to be active every day. I’m encouraging all other primary schools to get involved and consider adopting the Golden Mile or the Daily Mile into their everyday activity. Tackling childhood obesity is a local priority, not just for the council but for our partners in the NHS, schools, businesses and society as a whole. We need all sections of the community to contribute towards establishing healthy attitudes towards physical activity and food as early as possible.”